Today is my eldest son's 24th birthday. He was born at 2:43 pm in Hastings, MI during, of all things, a spring blizzard. Go figure. I can remember calling the doctor at a little after midnight, 24 years ago to tell him my water had broken and I was having contractions about 4 minutes apart. He told me to have my husband drive me to hospital. I asked if he had looked outside lately....it was snowing horizontally and wouldn't he please do a home delivery (he lived less than a mile down the road). Nope, I had to stay home or go in.

We went in at 1am. The nurses were going to send us home because I was only slightly dilated. They called my doctor and he told them to keep me there- he didn't want me in labor in a ditch somewhere. Besides, it was a 30 minute drive in good weather and he was NOT going to deliver the baby at home.

Well, that "baby," who was 22" long and 7# 11oz at birth is now 6'4" and 280#. Ouch. He was supposed to go pheasant hunting today. Can you hunt pheasant in 12" of snow??

Yesterday when we first received warning that the weather guys might have a clue.

This morning. Ok, they were right this time. Wonderful......

Trying out thread colours for the poem on the quilt.....

At first I tried freehanding the writing but I was worried about size and placement so writing it out on tear-away was a necessity. Additionally, my natural handwriting is a hybrid of cursive and printing but, to make it easier to stitch (fewer stops and starts) I tried to make it all flow.

Finishing touches on the Picton Castle

Poem in place

Finished ship...still trying to figure out what to do about the distortion from the stitching. May have to resort to a couple of tricks Ellen Anne Eddy taught me. If I had been smart I would have done the ship on meltaway and then just edge stitched it down. Too late now.

The piece is beautiful...you did a great job and should be pleased. Ships have a being and a personality all their own, each individually. You've caught the essence of this one's pride in herself and joy in doing what she does best -- riding the waves and going before the wind. Congratulations!

Name: Teri SpringerHome: Chester, Nova Scotia, CanadaAbout Me: Studio Art Quilt Associates for the Atlantic Canada Region (New Brunswick, Newfoundland/Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island).
Quote:Apples and Wine: Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough & smart enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.
Now Men... Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the hell out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.See my complete profile